Many people struggle to write or concentrate when they are in a noisy room. For me, it is the opposite. I cannot write when it is quiet. I must have some “noise” around me — chattering people in a coffee shop, music on in my home office, the drone of an airplane as I work while flying. This difference in the way my brain works is a good example of neurodiversity.

My career in journalism began in large, open newsrooms. There were literally hundreds of journalists sitting in an open plan that stretched from one side of the building to the other with no walls separating anyone. I learned to tune out noise around me and write in an absolute din. There were calls going on all around us. Police scanners blared. Televisions were tuned to news stations.

I’m different from other people who concentrate better when in a quiet place. They are different from me — someone whose brain needs a distraction to better concentrate, which sounds odd when I write it down.

My point is that everyone is neurodivergent in some way and that’s why it is such an important trend in design right now. Offices of the past were designed for the typical worker. Panels gave the impression of privacy (but they weren’t really private, were they?). There were conference rooms, but almost no place that was private.

A one-size fits all approach to design simply does not work anymore. I’d like to invite you to read the Feb. 10 issue of officeinsight magazine if you haven’t already and two very important columns in that issue. The first is “Why Your Workplace May Be Failing Our Best Minds and the Case for Neuroinclusive Design” by HOK’s Kay Sargent. It takes research from her upcoming book on Neuroinclusive Design and explains how inclusion can help everyone in an office, not just those who identify as neurodivergent. The second is “Lessons from the Science of Neuroaesthetics” by Yong In, a regular officeinsight columnist, Purdue University design professor and design strategist whose article takes a scientific and social look at neuroscience  and neurodiversity.

Both articles are must-reads for everyone in the industry — dealers, designers, manufacturers and everyone in between. Neuroinclusive design is going to be a critical topic for years to come as companies begin to understand the importance of giving everyone a place.

Neurodiversity refers to the natural variation in how people’s brains function and process information. It recognizes that neurological differences — such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and other cognitive variations — are normal and valuable aspects of human diversity rather than deficits to be “fixed.”

Most agree that the term was coined by sociologist Judy Singer in the late 1990s as part of the neurodiversity movement, which advocates for greater acceptance, inclusion and accommodations for neurodivergent individuals in education, workplaces and society.

As I mentioned earlier about Sargent’s article in officeinsight, neurodiverse design not only helps those with diagnosed neurological differences, it helps all of us. There are times where we need to simply get away from the noise and distraction in the office — even people like me that thrive in the chaos. What’s good for a worker in your office with autism probably will help the “neurotypical” worker as well, even though I would argue that no one really aligns with all workplace “norms.”

At the recent BIFMA 360 Conference, the speakers included Tara Cunningham, CEO of Beyond-Impact. She presented “Neurodiversity at Work,” and explained how the commercial interiors industry can unlock innovation and growth by harnessing neurodiversity. Neurodiversity celebrates all the differences in the human brain that are associated with leading, working and processing information. And she argued that companies that ignore neurodiversity are missing out on a creative and key group of the workforce.

Just like the push-bar doors in offices and curb cut-outs on city streets were designed to help people with disabilities, but ended up helping all of us, designing for neurodiversity is going to help improve offices for everyone.